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<title>there's one thing that I crave by aunt_zelda</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27900550">there's one thing that I crave</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/aunt_zelda/pseuds/aunt_zelda'>aunt_zelda</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Jennifer's Body (2009)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Ghost Sex, Ghosts, Groping, Mental Health Issues, Mental Institutions, Murder, Revenge, Self-Doubt, Trauma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:40:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,344</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27900550</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/aunt_zelda/pseuds/aunt_zelda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Needy’s never believed in ghosts. But then again, she didn’t believe in demons either until the proof was staring her right in the face.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jennifer Check/Anita "Needy" Lesnicki</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Holiday Horror 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>there's one thing that I crave</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/webofdreams89/gifts">webofdreams89</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Love this movie, was delighted to get this assignment!</p><p> </p><p>Title from the folk song "The Unquiet Grave." </p><p>Note: some ableist internal comments from Needy about her mental state or doubting her own mental state.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Needy is seeing things. </p><p>She’s in the right place for that: an institute with padded walls and mandatory exercise time and pills of every color. </p><p>Needy knows what she saw back in Devil’s Kettle was real. She remembers the sticky blood on her hands, the metallic tang in the air, the nausea in her stomach, and the sight of Jennifer dying beneath her. Needy never doubted her senses about that. </p><p>But she’s doubting them now. </p><p>Needy’s seen Jennifer a few times now. Not bloody demon Jennifer, but not quite the glowing pristine Jennifer either. A Jennifer who looks older, though certainly not wiser. </p><p>This Jennifer appears in mirrors and just out of the corner of Needy’s vision, but vanishes as soon as Needy takes a closer look. </p><p>Needy’s never believed in ghosts. But then again, she didn’t believe in demons either until the proof was staring her right in the face. </p><p>The place must be getting to her. Maybe crazy is catching, or they’ve been sneaking meds into her food. Needy needs to get out, and fortunately she’s got just enough demon blood in her to make that possible. </p><p>Her fight goes just as planned and gets her locked up in the solitary cell. The only problem is that fucking Low Shoulder song playing on the speaker at night, ratcheting up her rage to a burning crescendo. </p><p>Well, that and Jennifer’s ghost. </p><p>“Hey Needy, what’s up?” Jennifer grins at her, floating in front of her face.</p><p>Needy’s currently levitating several feet off the ground. She’s a picture of serenity, unless you look close and see the barely-concealed rage bubbling up inside.</p><p>“You’re not real.” Needy murmurs, closing her eyes and floating up towards the window. </p><p>“What a bitchy thing to say. Of course I’m real, Needy! What’s the matter, you bought the demon thing hook line and sinker but ghosts are a step too far?”</p><p>“Pretty much, yeah,” Needy starts to work at the window, finally busting through with brute force alone.</p><p>“Hot.” Jennifer pronounces, following along after her across the yard. “Prison agreed with you, huh?”</p><p>“Not really.” Needy pulls the fence apart and stalks through the woods. </p><p>“So where are we going? Can’t go back to Devil’s Kettle, everybody there knows your little psycho face.” Jennifer pouts dramatically. </p><p>Needy stumbles and looks down. A pile of neon, numbered balls are piled up in the watery runoff. The ones the scientists were always tossing into the Kettle. </p><p>There’s something else, something shiny in the moonlight. </p><p>Jennifer gasps. “That’s the knife. That’s the knife those fuckers stabbed me with.” </p><p>Needy picks it up. </p><p>Jennifer recoils. “What, stabbing me with the box-cutter wasn’t enough for you?” her voice has gone shrill, Needy knows that means she’s actually nervous. </p><p>“Not for you.” Needy straightens up. “Got an appointment with some douchebags.” </p><p>Jennifer is unusually quiet as Needy makes her way along the side of the road and flags down a passing car. </p><p>“Where you looking to go, young lady?” the driver asks. He looks like someone’s grandfather. Needy hopes he’s nice. </p><p>“East? Hoping Madison?”</p><p>“Hop in my chariot.”</p><p>“Show him your tits!” Jennifer suggests, leaning over and flashing her own. </p><p>Needy ignores her and hops into the car. The driver is an actually decent man, doesn’t try anything nasty. He drops Needy off and hands her some money, advising her to get on home to her parents safely after the concert.  </p><p>“Boring.” Jennifer whines. “When are we gonna do something fun?”</p><p>Needy goes to a thrift store and buys a new hoodie, some jeans with only a few designer rips, and some shitty converse sneakers with the money the driver gave her. </p><p>Jennifer laughs as Needy tries to untangle the rainbow laces in an alley a few blocks away from the store. “I’d help, but well,” she waves a hand through a nearby wall. </p><p>“I don’t need your help. I never did.” Needy insists.</p><p>“You always needed me, <i>Needy</i>. That’s why the nickname stuck.” </p><p>“I should have stabbed you in both tits.” Needy glares. </p><p>“Aw, you’re breaking my heart,” Jennifer holds a hand over her chest, which starts bleeding. </p><p>Needy grimaces and heads for the hotel where the fan meet and greet is scheduled.  </p><p>~*~</p><p>The hotel is packed with Low Shoulder fangirls, squealing and thundering up and down hallways in search of the band. Needy is about their age but feels somehow at least ten years older. Was she really that excited to see a band of scrawny guys perform bad music not that long ago? </p><p>“You’re really gonna do this?” Jennifer asks. “For me?”</p><p>“For them.” Needy nods at the gaggle of girls racing around the next hallway corner. “… and for you, yeah.”</p><p>Jennifer reaches over and holds Needy’s hand. To their mutual shock, Jennifer actually makes contact with Needy’s skin. She’s cold, but there’s a tangible feeling there. </p><p>Needy looks at Jennifer, acutely aware of her heartbeat pounding like a drum. </p><p>It’s Jennifer who lets go first, blushing and looking down and tugging on her hair. </p><p>“So uh, you gonna kill these clowns or what?” Jennifer asks, forcing a smile.  </p><p>It’s not hard to locate the band’s room, overhearing some disgruntled hotel workers complaining about shitty tips after delivering room service. Needy doesn’t bother with knocking, just shoves the door open snapping the lock and pulling out the knife. </p><p>Needy kills every member of the band. It’s slow and vicious and bloody. It feels right. It feels good. It feels righteous. </p><p>Needy licks the blood on her lips and stands upright, triumphant, over her final conquest. The dagger is lodged in Nikolai Wolf’s chest. She doesn’t want it back. </p><p>Jennifer looks … horny. Needy became intimately aware of that aspect of Jennifer early in high school, seeing her off with a different guy every week or so. Jennifer licks her lips and her eyes have gone dark and her shoulders are tensed like she’s ready to spring. </p><p>“Jennifer, we have to … I mean, I have to go. Their fans will burst in here any second.”</p><p>“Fine. This is a hotel, right? Let’s get a room.” Jennifer grabs Needy’s hand and yanks her away from the cooling corpses. </p><p>Needy knocks on a door and upon finding no answer, wrenches it open. She wedges a chair under the handle. Then it hits her, the sticky blood feeling again on her skin, on her hands on her face …</p><p>Needy stumbles into the shower, pulling off her clothes.</p><p>“Hey, I wanted to do that!” Jennifer complains, ducking out of the way of Needy’s thrown shirt. </p><p>“I’m, I need to, I’m so dirty, I can’t …” Needy scrubs herself under the spray of water frantically. </p><p>“Needy, shut up.” Jennifer’s bitchy attitude is usually annoying but in the moment it’s just what Needy … needs. </p><p>Needy starts to breathe steadily again. Jennifer’s hands are on her now, fingertips tracing over her skin, following the rivulets of blood. </p><p>“Remember seventh grade? God I was so mad when you got these,” Jennifer gropes at Needy’s breasts. “Every guy in school wanted a piece and you kept wearing those dumb pony shirts to cover them up. What a waste.”</p><p>“You were jealous?” Needy is shocked. She’d started to suspect, but it had always felt so wrong to question Jennifer’s motivations. </p><p>“Yeah.” Jennifer looks a little surprised at herself. “Never thought I’d say that out loud. Weird. Being dead and all the shame just goes poof!” </p><p>“Sounds nice.” Needy says.</p><p>“Don’t go all emo on me.” Jennifer glares. “There’s no guarantee you’d become a ghost too, and where would that leave me huh? All alone? I don’t think so.”</p><p>“Are you saying <i>you</i> need <i>me</i>?” Needy asks. </p><p>Jennifer looks furious. She opens her mouth to speak, then leans in for a kiss instead. </p><p>Needy kisses her back, turning up the water to its hottest setting, relishing in the difference between the water, and the eerie chill of Jennifer’s body against her own.  </p><p>Maybe Jennifer’s ghost isn’t real. Maybe Needy belongs right back where she started. </p><p>But for now, Needy’s going to savor every moment they have together.</p>
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